Divisions in Orthodoxy
Adapted from Rabbi Braun’s sermon in 5773
This past Wednesday (5 years ago) the Jewish people lost a giant with the passing of Rabbi Joseph Sholom Elyashiv, the recognized leader of the Lithuanian Orthodox community in Jerusalem.
The question that I thought about immediately after I learned of his passing and the question that I pose to you this morning is how our community relates to his life and death.
Clearly there were things that he believed that our community does not espouse and the direction for his community was not necessarily the direction that we have taken.
Given that do we simply say, yes this is a loss for THAT community and in a general but not terribly significant way, it is a loss for the Jewish people, or can we move past the dividing lines and fully appreciate the loss of a tremendous Talmid Chacham and Posek.
My bet would be that for many it is the former and I want to look at the argument between Moshe and the 2&1/2 tribes to try and explain why.
The Torah tells us in chapter 32 that the tribes of Reuven and Gad had a fair amount of cattle and that the land that they just captured would be very suitable for them. So they approach Moshe and request that this land be given to their tribes and that they not cross the Jordan River.
ה) ויאמרו אם מצאנו חן בעיניך יתן את הארץ הזאת לעבדיך לאחזה אל תעברנו את הירדן
Moshe responds to that request with some fury. You want to stay here and not fight while your brothers will go and fight for the land?! We just went through this with the spies and you want to replay that entire sinful episode?! That caused everyone else to fear going in and cost us 40 years in the desert. Why are you looking to do the same thing?
After the diatribe, in verse 16, Reuven and Gad reply to Moshe, let us keep our flock here but we will go in to fight with you and we will fight first and we will not return here until every inch of the land is conquered. And Moshe agrees.
Of course it is not nearly that simple. What were the tribes actually requesting when they first came to Moshe? Did they really want to simply stay and not fight or did they originally intend to fight? Did they change their minds after the rebuke or were they correcting Moshe after the rebuke. Were they wrong or was Moshe wrong.
The Abarbanel maps out both positions.
Position 1- the people always intended to fight. Moshe misunderstood their intentions and tee’d off on them, and they came afterwards to clarify their original intentions.
Position 2- the people were requesting to sit out of the battle. They got it from Moshe, saw the error of their ways sand self-corrected and volunteered to go in and fight.
The latter position is quite easy to understand. The people had not learned their lessons, even after 40 years just as they had not learned their lesson in year 40 when they complained about the water that led to Moshe hitting the rock. Moshe displays rightful indignation, the people recognize the error of their ways and we live happily ever after.
Abarbanel however prefers the first approach. This approach is a little more difficult to deal with. In this approach, Moshe made a mistake. He misattributed motivations to a group of Jews that were quite negative. He assumed that the people had no interest in fighting and could potentially bring about another 40 year disaster. What about giving people the benefit of the doubt? How could Moshe be so wrong?
I think that the answer to that question is quite simple and quite relevant to our situation today.
Moshe comes to his conclusion based on past history and within the context of the relationship that he has had with the Jewish people for the last 40 years. The people never learn, they don’t get it, they keep complaining to him about God. Over the years and the abuse certain distrust establishes itself and that distrust is clearly the reason for Moshe’s mistake here. Moshe simply arrives at his conclusion based on his previous experiences and encounters. The mistrust that has developed is read into this situation as well.
In an ongoing relationship you cannot really start over; it is nearly impossible to give people the benefit of the doubt when past events dictate against it. There is a divide and disconnect and they form our opinion of each other. And we remain divided and wary of each other.
Although it is very hard for me to avoid connecting the past mistrust to our current one regarding the issue of who fights for the land of Israel., I will try and do so because it is not my agenda to today to stoke the flame of argument today.
Today I am not interested in how we got there, rather where we are. And this is where we are:
The orthodox community is divided. There is a culture of argument and mistrust and it colors nearly every interaction between the different orthodox communities.
Moshe sees the actions of the 2 tribes through the glasses of mistrust. So too we and the Lithuanian Chareidi community view each other and our actions towards one another with those same glasses of mistrust.
I believe that it has colored our reaction to the death of Rav Elyashiv as well.
Today I am not interested in the reasons why and how we got here. Rather I am depressed that we are where we are!
As we are about to start the 9 days, and we continue to commemorate the temple that was destroyed because the Jews were sectarian and divided on religious and social issues, it is terribly tragic and painful that we are in the same situation today.
That is certainly part of the reason that we continue to mourn!
